For some years Nick Mount has been working
on a series of extraordinary 'Scent bottles'. These appear
as vastly oversized versions of perfume bottles, or more particularly
the larger apothecary jars used for advertising that were
once displayed in chemist shops and perfumeries.
In his current body of work made in 2005 he demonstrates not
only his skills in working the glass, but also the many variations
of the bottle form made possible through his practice of assembling
the final pieces by selecting from an array of completed component
parts. He uses both hot and cold glass working techniques to
make and decorate the forms, consistently drawing on Italian
glass traditions that include 'mezza filigrana' and 'zanfirico'
(cane-work) and 'battuto' (carved surfaces). In complete contrast
to the oversized bottles, a new group of small bottles on this
theme have gem-like murrine inclusions embedded in the blown
forms.
More recently Mount has started to use drawn lines, made with
pencils of cast glass enamels that he has made himself. Worked
onto the sandblasted or acid-etched surface of the finished
form before refiring, these drawn marks reflect the lines of
canework used elsewhere, but in a much more loose and gestural
manner. Now, not only are tall oval forms boldly drawn with
exploding fire
and flame motifs but a new series continues that theme using
stencils airbrushed with low-fire enamels, in the manner of
the hard-edged decoration used in panel-van art.
Mount's process of working is now somewhat like playing with
the elements of a well-understood language. 'Always the first
thing for me is the pleasure of working on the crafting process',
he says, 'initially through working between the hot glass and
the furnace, and then cold-working with the wheel later. Then
there is the fun of putting components together, like found
objects, in compositions that might offer surprise and humour
as well as puzzles sometimes, about engineering improbabilities.
I like the pieces to be provocative, and it is also exciting
when others see things in them that I hadn't noticed.'
Currently working from his studio in Adelaide, Nick Mount's
first contact with glass was during Dick Marquis's first visit
in 1974. He has worked in
partnership with Pauline Mount through their One-Off Studio
in Gippsland from late 1977, followed by Budgeree glass in Victoria
from 1978 and South Australia from 1984-1991, and also spent
some time as head of the JamFactory glass workshop in the 1990s.
Many well-established Australian glass artists have worked with
him along the way, and he also maintains strong personal connections
as well as teaching and exhibiting commitments overseas.
A film was made of his work in 2001, a book was published
in 2002 for the third South Australian Living Artists Week
monograph award and the JamFactory Gallery mounted a solo
exhibition of his recent work during the American GAS (Glass
Art Society) conference in Adelaide in 2005.
Through combining his distinctive ideas with exceptional
skills, workshop experience and generosity with his time,
Nick Mount provides a most significant example and model for
many glassblowers.
Grace Cochrane, senior curator, Australian decorative
arts and design, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
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